Cat scans sadly don't involve cats

 

     Cat scans, other wise known in the medical world as CT scans, sadly, do not involve any sort of cats. I mean, it would be quite amusing to just swipe a cat over your body in mid air a few times but it's probably not going to give doctors the answers they were after either.

    What they do involve though is something that looks a bit like a whirling time machine. This whirling and chunking machine takes a whole lotta x-rays from multiple angles and combines them into a cross sectional picture of your soft tissue and bones inside your body.

Why I Need To Get Scanned

    For me, this test was to look at my intestinal system for abscesses, fistulas or blockages currently going on as well as scar tissue from inflammation. I've been having a lot of localized pain and the doctor wanted to see if there had been any changes since my last scan about a year ago.

Outpatient Care Rocks !

   The scan, as mentioned above is one that I've had several times before. Luckily this one was by appointment at the hospital rather than me coming into the ER with extreme pain. I was pleasantly surprised that, this time around I had many "fun" flavors of barium to pick from instead of the nasty gunk I've had in the ER. I voiced my choice of banana and waited for my medical milkshake to appear.

  Since, I had an appointment it all moved pretty swiftly. I got one of those nifty hospital bands with all my impertinent patient info and than was escorted back to the waiting room to drink my "banana" shake.

   I drank both bottles rather quickly. I've found with previous experiences, its just best to chug the stuff down and get it over with. The longer you wait, the more it tastes like warm eggnog. Once you've ingested the lovely concoction that will make your insides visible on the scan, there is nothing left to do but wait. The drink has to make it's way through your system before you can actually go in for the test.

So you wait.  Sadly, you will not glow in the dark after consumption. I checked when I flicked the lights off in the bathroom. No glow. No super powers. Darn.

    Fortunately, when you are an outpatient at a hospital though, they actually allow you to wander away. You just need to promise to be back in time for the allotted scan. I promised like a 100 times because there was no way I was gonna drink that concoction again.

At least not that day.

In the Vortex 

    Forty-five minutes later, I was back from sitting in the hospital's lovely garden reading my kindle and ready to rock this test. Just like before, things moved swiftly. I was ushered into a back room where the machine was with a technician and nurse. They helped me up onto the machine bed and set up an IV line to run the contrast.

    Within a few minutes they had everything ready and the very kind nurse started the machine and warned me that she was about to run the contrast.

Why did she warn me ?

    Well, the contrast that is pushed through your veins just as the test starts gives you this sudden intense warm sensation throughout your body. It also makes you feel like you're peeing your pants. No, really. You don't actually pee your pants. But it's a really good imitation of the same sensation.

     After that though, the test isn't so bad. The machine hums and whirls around your mid section while you lay on a metal bed that gives off the sensation of floating in air. Its rather quick and not very loud but you can't bring music in with you like an mp3 player. So you are left there with just your thoughts and the sound of the machine working it's magic.

   I just closed my eyes while it went on and pretended that I was in the TARDIS swirling around in a time vortex. Sadly when it was over, no Time Lord Doctor Who's appeared.

( I wanted Tennant or Troughton to appear but would have accepted Smith )
The staff though that helped that day were all fabulous.

Results :

  I have an appointment in September to discuss the next step of my care.

  For me, the scans showed that I have scar tissue and that's probably the cause of my daily pain.
My doctor wants to refer my case to Mount Sinai Hospital where they are more able to deal with difficult cases of crohn's disease. I am sad that my doctor can't help me further but hope that perhaps I can find a treatment that does not require surgery at this time.

Until than I ponder the possibilities and do my usual tricks to keep my alien at bay and happy within me. My next post will delve into these ways.

Steroids - Not just for body builders

     The use of the word steroids when brought up, tends to conjure colorful caricatures of beefed up body builders and super human athletes in today's popular culture. Steroids though, are not just for people looking to achieve a competitive edge. They play an integral part of treatment when dealing with many kinds of chronic illnesses like Crohn's disease.

     That integral time has come for me. I've been prescribed a slightly hefty dose of prednisone ( 60 mg ) daily to try and reign my alien into some sort of submission. It does come with side effects though, as does any medication. So I'd like to discuss today the good, the bad & the ugly.

The Good

     Everyone wants to be a good host, but when your alien roommate starts attacking you, its time to build walls. Steroids are great way to build up those barriers. They can let your body heal when dealing with a difficult flare.

     The way it all works is through suppression. By suppressing the immune system with high does of corticosteroids, you can suppress the inflammation that's currently occurring. Through this course of treatment, many patients find they can achieve significant benefits with a reduced risk of problems. The length of the treatment though varies.

The Bad

     I've been on my current course of steroids for 18 days now and I'm seeing improvement but I'm starting to feel its side effects. Steroids have a tendency to make you hyper. I call it the energizer bunny syndrome.

     I can't sit still. Rest is probably the best thing, but my mind & body are whirling at full warp speed. It's like downing multiple espressos in a row and noticing all the shiny things in the room. And it's like this all day. That bunny just keeps going and going and going.

     Another dreaded side effect is what many people call "moonface". It's an affectionate term used to describe how one's own face tends to look after battling the alien while on the 'roids. So the longer I'm on it, the more I tend to look like the fourth member of the chipmunks.

     The other bad side effect of being on this lovely medication, is the tendency to want to eat everything in sight. I haven't gotten to this point. Yet. Remind me not to eat everything that isn't nailed down when I get there. 

Thanks ;-)

The Ugly

     So remember those stereotypes ? The angry body-builders with 'roid rage ? There's some truth to it. The weight gain and moon face side effects are typically temporary and will go away with time and exercise. Usually once medication has been reduced or ended luckily.

     The mood swings on the other hand are much harder to control. The alien is at the helm, so to speak. You are so amped and ramped up, that everything just jumbles about. Eventually a valve has to blow.

     So when it does, I have a little talk with my Alien friend. I put him in a corner for a time out and let him think about how's he's been bad.

     Tomorrow I have fun filled adventure planned of getting cat-scanned ( CT ) at the hospital.

I've had this test before. I can assure it does NOT entail picking up a cat by its backside & repeatedly scanning it over one's self.

Come back to see how it all goes.

The Game of Crohn's ... and you thought Joffrey was a pain in the ass.

     The Game of Crohn's ... and you thought Joffrey was a pain in the ass.

     Discovering in your mid twenties that you've been diagnosed with the fate of a lifelong chronic disease that has no cure is rather akin to being hit with a shovel. A shovel that smacks you square in the face whilst running full speed though life. Luckily, just like my cartoon counterparts, I have the tendency to bounce right back by laughing at the ludicrous moments that the pooping disease otherwise known as crohn's has brought into my life.

     After nine years of navigating through this world looking for the nearest toilet, I thought I could share what it is like to live with a painful disease that affects over five million people world wide but is rarely talked about.

     Please join me in future posts as I introduce my alien, explain what crohn's actually is and talk about all the fun times my alien and I have trying to reside together.

     Just remember, Everyone Poops !